Idris Elba’s Journey to Role as Nelson Mandela

When portraying South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela in the biopic, “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” Idris Elba embraced the harsh realities of Mandela’s life and was determined to stay in character even when the cameras stopped rolling.

But the British actor knew his latest movie wouldn’t be believable unless his fellow actors could deliver a performance as raw as his own — so he pushed them to embrace uncomfortable realties, too.

Elba recounted one such instance when he was shooting scenes that focused on Mandela’s 27 years in jail under white minority rule. During the filming, he sensed that a couple of white actors were struggling to portray the brutality in which Mandela was treated.

“They felt bad. … I could see it in their eyes. I spoke to director (Justin Chadwick) and I said, ‘I need these guys to go back to their core. If there is any sense of racism in them I need them to bring it up. If there is a black person that they don’t like let me hear it and feel it,'” said Elba intently, leaning in during a recent interview in a dim Hollywood bar.

“That was important because it would come through in the performance and suddenly it becomes the biopic that’s safe.”

Safe would not be the word to describe Mandela the man, or the movie. While it shows him as the genial peacemaker that the world embraced when he was freed from prison and became South Africa’s first black president, it also shows him as a fiery and flawed revolutionary who sought to abolish apartheid through any means necessary as leader as the African National Congress.

Chadwick called Idris brave and lauded his portrayal of Mandela.

“There are not many people who would step into the shoes of Mandela, particularly the way I was making the movie,” he said. “There was no room for any untruth. When you are standing in front of thousands of people portraying their leader that they know so well you’d better be on it, and Idris was on it.”

Elba did not have a chance to speak to the 95-year-old icon because of his failing health. But he drew on the mannerisms of his late father to help him with his interpretation of Mandela. He also spoke to a few of Mandela’s daughters and his second wife, Winnie, who was also a powerful figure in the anti-apartheid movement.

“Winnie said it’s all good to see a guy who is waving and smiling,” said Elba. “But she needed to see the complex man.”

Based on Mandela’s autobiography, the film has been in the works for years. Denzel Washington was the original choice for the role.

Next up for Elba is “The Gunman,” opposite Javier Bardem and Sean Penn, who recently presented Elba with a Britannia humanitarian award.